LATEST ADDITIONS

If I had to pick one amplifier designer as having had the greatest continuing influence on the high-end market, as much as I admire John Curl, Audio Research's <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/894z">Bill Johnson</A>, and Krell's <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/1203dagostino">Dan D'Agostino</A>, the name of <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11661">David Hafler</A> inexorably springs to mind. Not because he challenged the very frontiers of hi-fi sound, but because he combined a fertile, creative mind (footnote 1) with a need to bring good sound to as wide an audience as possible, both by making his products relatively inexpensive and by making them available as kits. (The Major Armstrong Foundation apparently agrees with me&#151;they presented David with their "Man of High Fidelity" award at the summer 1988 CES.) It remains to be seen if the Hafler company will continue in this tradition, now that David has sold it to Rockford-Fosgate. But there is no doubt that many audiophiles were first made aware of the possibilities of high-end sound by Hafler products in the late '70s, and by Dynaco in the '60s.

<I>The Phantom of the Opera</I>: Original Canadian Cast</I><BR>
Jeffrey Huard, cond.; Andrew Lloyd Webber, music; Charles Hart, lyrics; Richard Stilgoe, additional lyrics<BR>
PolyGram 847 689-1 (LP), -2 (CD*). Martin Levan, David Caddick, prods.; Martin Levan, eng. DDA/DDD. TTs: 57:03, 69:45*

Meridian Audio Ltd. announced at 4pm December 5 that it had acquired media server manufacturer Sooloos LLC. "Basically, it comes from [Meridian founder] Bob Stuart's appreciation of great industrial design and innovative technologies," said Meridian's Chief Marketing Officer Graeme Taylor. "That combination is what Meridian has always attempted to offer and when Bob saw Sooloos' products, he realized that Peter Wellikoff [COO], Enno Vandermeer [CEO], and Danny Dulai [CTO] shared those values. Over time, it became obvious that, between what we shared and what we each could offer each other, the acquisition made tremendous sense."

In a way, I started writing <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/the_dresses_the_shoes_and_the… Ryan Adams piece</a> at the moment I dropped the needle on the record&#151around two, or maybe closer to <i>three</i> weeks ago now. Words, however, weren't typed onto this computer screen until last Monday. Normally, I don't spend so much time on a blog entry. For better or worse, these entries usually end on the day they begin, but other things&#151work, Thanksgiving, life&#151kept getting in the way of my completion of the <i>Cardinology</i> piece. I think I could have finished it all in one day had I had the opportunity, and I also think it could have been a better piece if I had, but I am nevertheless happy with it.

Michael Fremer will participate in a roundtable discussion titled, "Deep Listening: Why Audio Quality Matters," held at the Philoctetes Center for the Multidisciplinary Study of the Imagination (247 East 82nd Street, NY) on Saturday, December 6, at 2:30pm.

In his <I>20,000 Leagues Under the Sea</I>, Jules Verne presents the enigmatic Captain Nemo, commander of the great submarine <I>Nautilus</I>, as powerful, charismatic, and mysterious. On first meeting Nemo, the narrator, M. Aronnax, notes, "I made out his prevailing qualities directly: self-confidence&#151;because his head was well set on his shoulders, and his black eyes looked around with cold assurance; calmness&#151;for his skin, rather pale, showed his coolness of blood; energy&#151;evinced by the rapid contraction of his lofty brows; and courage&#151;because his deep breathing denoted great power of lungs." All in all, "this man was certainly the most admirable specimen I had ever met."

The roadster's throbbing rumble became a roar as the tachometer soared above 4 grand. Like a giant hand, its thrust jammed me back into the seat. Racing along low to the ground, feeling every curve and bump, I began to understand: the automotive virtues of smoothness and insulation had been swapped for firm road grip and the ability to transmit to the driver each jolt and curve in the surface below. Long before I'd climbed into the driver's seat of Porsche's Boxster S, I had known about its low-end snort and speed&#151;the main reasons I was considering a lease&#151;but I had not known about its ability to join sensation and purpose in such an intense bond.